Seattle contractor finds grenade behind bathtub during renovation

A contractor remodeling a Seattle home made an explosive discovery when he found a grenade buried behind a bathtub he was removing this week.

Polar Bear Construction owner Vadim Kharkavyy told KIRO 7 News he had just ripped out the tub on the home’s third-floor bathroom on Tuesday when he spotted the grenade between studs in the wall.

“My first thought was to get out of there,” he said.

The Seattle Police Department’s bomb squad responded to the home in the Ballard neighborhood and determined that the bomb was not live.

“I rushed out of there, took a breath, and actually went back in and recorded the situation,” he told the outlet about the shocking find. 

“I zoomed in on my phone and took a closer peek, I’m like that’s an actual freaking grenade,” he added.

The contractor posted a video on his company’s TikTok page showing the fist-sized green grenade sitting inside the wall with the pin still attached. 

“No f–king way this is so real,” the caption read. The video then cuts to law enforcement officers in thick vests walking into the house.

Khakavvy said that while he’s accustomed to finding things hidden in walls and floors — typically old trash — this was a first.

“Nothing like this, this was big,” he told the outlet. “Nobody knew [it was there].”

The father and husband said he lost three hours of work during the ordeal, but would rather have lost some work time as opposed to a limb or even his life.

“Whether it’s a bomb, whether it’s a grenade, it’s an explosive,” Khakavvy said. “I have kids and a wife at home so I’d rather play it safe than sorry.”

Investigators told him that the grenade may have come from a veteran who brought it home from a war.